The hood says Lynx. The parts bin contains Professional ceramics, Sedona tubes, and a transformer that only fits one year. Built-ins hide the real string on the chassis, not the polished badge.
Why the hood lies
- Color names (Surf, Sierra) and series names (Professional, Sedona, ALXE, OG) sold across 27/30/36/42/54-inch boxes.
- NG versus LP is a suffix on the plate. Ordering the wrong orifices is a leak, not a close enough.
- Rotisserie (R), Trident / SearZone / RapidSear (T, SZ, S), and side-burner letters change electrodes, IR burners, and briquette trays inside a width.
Where to look
- Chassis side flange after you lift the hood and look down the island cutout — orange in the diagram. Common on Lynx Professional, Alfresco ALXE, Twin Eagles TEBQ.
- Behind or under the control panel. Wolf OG and some Viking VQGI plates live on the panel back or the firebox front lip.
- Right or left firebox wall inside the box once grates and briquette trays are out. Fire Magic Echelon / Aurora often stamp here.
- Not the hood badge. Not the island contractor’s cut sheet unless it still matches a photo of the plate.
Procedure
- Shut the gas (LP tank or NG valve) and kill the island GFCI. Built-ins are 120 V as well as gas.
- Photograph the whole island so you know which head this plate belongs to.
- Wipe the flange. Shoot a tight photo of every character: L36TR-NG, ALXE-42SZ, OG36, BH1-36RI-N, VQGI5420, E790i, TEBQ42RS-C.
- Copy NG vs LP, serial, and any jacket note (combustible island = insulating jacket).
- Use the homepage finder: brand, that model, part type. BBQGuys first for this segment, Amazon second.
If the plate is gone
- Measure cutout width, depth, and height.
- Count main burners and note IR sear / rear rotisserie yes/no.
- Note 120 V lights and whether ignition is a glow (hot-surface) or a tick (spark).
- That is a search hint. It is not a serial.
Related: cart-grill plates live in find your model number. Built-in ignition is transformer / hot-surface.